


Experience

by whenyoudesertme (phrenk)



Category: Arashi (Band), Japanese Actor RPF, Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-14
Updated: 2014-03-14
Packaged: 2018-01-17 03:21:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1372018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phrenk/pseuds/whenyoudesertme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While studying abroad for a semester, Mao runs into an old friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Experience

**Author's Note:**

> For awa_naj for je-whiteday! Thanks to kinoface for all the help. ♥ Originally posted [here](http://je-whiteday.livejournal.com/72969.html); re-posted [here](http://whenyoudesertme.livejournal.com/36154.html).

There were a hundred reasons why it was surprising when Mao saw Matsumoto Jun again.

Top of the list was that she was in New York City, thousands of miles away from the middle school in Toshima where they'd been friends years before. Though it was more likely to run into another Japanese person in the dorm where she was designated to live for four months, she'd been here for three weeks already and hadn't seen him anywhere.

Before now, at least, because there he was: taller, stronger-featured, definitely not in a school uniform... but unmistakably Jun. After eight years, Mao was staggered to see him. The two beers she'd had before the party probably helped with that.

"Dear me, she's already stumbling." The arm through which Mao's right arm was twined tightened helpfully despite the sweetly poisonous voice.

"What are you looking at, Mao-chan?" the keeper of her left arm asked, ignoring their friend's words with characteristic cool.

Mao squeezed them both even as she continued her attempt to process Jun's sudden re-appearance in her life. She'd been worried about coming to New York without knowing anyone, but these two had found places in her life from the first time they'd met. Now here was another person she knew, too.

"An old friend," she said, sliding her left hand down to thread her fingers through Keiko's. Jun was talking to a girl in a pretty dress and knee-high boots. He looked very grown-up and different from the round-cheeked boy who'd been the earnest, determined puppy of their group of friends in their adolescence.

"Oooh, that's perfect," Nino said on her other side. He let go of her arm and gestured in the vague direction of Mao's gaze. "He can be my prescribed _new_ friend this week! I'll get out my phone..."

"He looks busy," Mao said, taking in the amorous look in Jun's dark eyes with startled amusement. "And I need a drink."

"But my new game is waiting," Nino whined, shuffling closer to give her a pleading look. "If I get my proof now, I can go back to my room--"

"And leave us here?" Keiko interrupted and raised her eyebrows at him. "No. You're the only one who knows anyone here. Where're your friends, anyway?"

"Friend is a strong word," Nino said bitterly, but he put his phone away again. "Aiba-san is more of an acquaintance, really, and one who can't take a hint. And I don't know anyone else at all."

"And yet you're here," Keiko mused.

Mao stopped listening. Jun was moving away from his conversational partner, though not without a look back at her that almost made Mao blush to see it.

"I'll be back," she said abruptly and tugged away from her friends toward Jun. She winded her way through the crowd of people after him, huffing when she was jostled this way and that by a group of impromptu dancers, and followed him out into the hallway.

She'd thought she was closing in, but now she couldn't see him anywhere. Taking a deep breath and glad to be out of the crush of the party, she looked left and right, then chose left on a whim. It seemed wrong to give up when they'd been so close and hadn't seen each other in ages.

She reached the end of the hallway without him magically appearing from any of the doors, so she turned around to go back. Right then the sounds of the party spilled out raucously as someone opened the door.

She saw the girl from before, whose boots made her look like a superhero with her dress flowing back, come through the open door and let it close behind her. She didn't glance in Mao's direction, just turned right and made her way unerringly to a door.

Jun emerged, intense, unsmiling. The girl reached up and pulled him into a kiss.

Mao's mouth dropped open, and she brought a hand up to muffle her laugh. He'd been fourteen, and she nearly so, the last time they'd seen each other, and to see him all grown up and smooching in a dorm hallway was hilarious. It was Jun! Jun with the cherub face and awkward smile, Jun who'd wrangled their friends into performing Michael Jackson with him at the school talent show.

It was funny for a few seconds, and then it got weird. Jun's hands came to rest on the girl's shoulders, light, but with intent, and he tilted his head and opened his mouth. Mao spun away to press her head against the wall, desperately trying not to giggle even though she was more flustered than amused now. She pressed her hands against her hot cheeks and tried to erase the kiss from her mind, and by the time she'd convinced herself she'd succeeded and turned around again, they were gone. Presumably to his room to finish what they'd started, given how that'd definitely been a kiss that looked like it was going to lead to sex.

Not that Mao would know about that.

And now she was thinking about sex and _Matsumoto Jun_. She really needed that drink.

*

"It's natural, isn't it, to be turned on by two attractive people kissing?" Keiko said, considering Mao's explanation over her tea.

"No, no, no," Mao started, waving her hands in front of her face. "I mean, yes, but I don't find my childhood friend attractive! That'd be weird."

"I don't see why, but all right." Keiko leaned back in the overstuffed chair that was her favorite spot in their coffee shop. Their dorm on the levels above it alternated floors between boys and girls where fraternization was allowed if not encouraged, though everyone took full advantage, but the coffee shop on ground level was a comfortable place where everyone spent time.

Now that Mao knew that Jun was here, surely living in the same building since he'd gone into that room with that girl like it was his, she found herself watching for him wherever she went. As a kid, he'd always been buying juice from the vending machine by her locker, but as an adult he seemed like the type who drank coffee.

She shivered, struck again by the weirdness of _Jun as a grown-up._ She'd have to call Yu later to tell her all about it.

"We'd better go if we don't want to be late to study group." Keiko was already gathering her things, and Mao scrambled to do the same. She didn't know how her English homework always got scattered all over the coffee table when Keiko's stayed in a neat stack.

"Is Nino meeting us there?"

"And saving us seats," Keiko replied, smiling. "Maybe he feels bad about trying to ditch us last night."

Mao snorted. "Not likely."

*

Despite keeping her eyes peeled, Mao didn't spot her middle school friend for a whole week. It was with some anticipation that she got ready to go to another party the next Friday, especially when Nino arrived to the room Mao shared with Keiko and said the party was even on the same floor as the week before.

They arrived near eleven o'clock, having chatted and drank in Mao and Keiko's room for longer than they'd realized. After one round of the common room, during which she lost Nino to Aiba's clutches and Keiko in pursuit of a drink, Mao went back out into the hallway.

She drifted, liquor kicking in, not in the direction of Jun's room but the opposite way, back to where she'd been standing the week before when she saw Jun and the girl kissing. As soon as she got to the end of the hall, she felt silly and laughed to herself. She was striding back to the party when a girl came out of Jun's room.

It was a different girl; Mao noticed that right away. She was very pretty, with hair so short it was nearly buzzed and facial features so striking that Mao stumbled.

Jun followed the girl into the hall, taking her hand and tugging her in for a languid kiss. Despite her inexperience, Mao instinctively knew it was a goodbye after having spent time in bed together.

Mao couldn't stifle her giggles quickly enough this week, but she managed to turn around before either of the two could catch her face. She stumbled backwards the few steps left to the common room and managed to get through the door without knocking her head into the frame.

"There you are," Keiko said. She looked flushed but collected. She was very pretty with her hair pulled back and glasses on, Mao mused.

"I think we drank too much before coming," Mao said solemnly, leaning her hot face against Keiko's bare shoulder.

"No need to tell me," Keiko said. She was swaying slightly, so Mao figured she meant herself, but then she pointed across the room. "See, Mao-chan, our friend is making friends. _So_ many new friends."

Mao blinked and tilted her head. There was Nino with cheeks red as a tomato, nearly toppling into a group of people but saving himself just in time.

"Friends!" Nino yelled, collaring someone around the neck. "Here, let me just--ouch! No one's going to be friends with you with an attitude like that."

"I think he's trying to get enough pictures to last him the whole semester," Keiko said, snickering quietly.

"When did he get so wasted," Mao breathed, impressed despite herself. The room was spinning a bit, but only a bit, and Nino seemed to be doing most of the spinning himself. He kept bouncing from one group to another, getting a grudging picture there, a shove here, a cheerful mugging for the camera over there.

"Aiba-san was following him around for a while, but I think he thought it was too funny? And now he's on the floor."

Mao followed Keiko's pointing finger and saw, indeed, a curled up figure wedged between a group of three girls and a wall.

"He's been laughing for the last five minutes." With this, like she'd discharged her duty and it was Mao's now, Keiko wrapped an arm around Mao's shoulder and leaned hard.

Distracted by her uncharacteristically sloppy roommate, Mao was trying to remember what they'd had that had been so potent in their room, but then she registered an odd noise out of the general hubbub.

"Oh, I thought that was part of the shitty music," she said, laughing herself. "He sounds like a hyena!"

"You'd think he'd run out of air eventually," Keiko said. She sounded dreamy and amused. "Have you seen your old friend?"

Mao froze, picturing Jun kissing--first the girl from last week, then the androgynous beauty from tonight. "Um."

"New friends!" came a bellow from across the room. Mao's eyes bulged to realize the deep voice came from _Nino_. "I must go and greet my other friends now, the ones, ahem, that I already had, and who poured me such delicious beverages, and who aren't coming over to greet me so I must greet them."

He promptly tripped over his own feet and went down like a sack of potatoes. Mao and Keiko guffawed, holding each other up precariously, and then Mao spotted another movement down low.

"Look! Aiba-san's trying to join him!"

Their erstwhile host was slithering awkwardly across the floor, getting stepped on every few feet, clearly determined to reach Nino.

"Where is a camera when I need it," Mao sighed. Someone bumped into her from behind, and she realized they were still standing in front of the door. She said automatically, "Excuse me," and in the next moment knew it was Jun, though she couldn't have said how.

It was hard to breathe, mostly from trying not to laugh at the awkward situation and Nino and Aiba on the floor, and Mao turned her face into Keiko's neck. Jun brushed past, giving his own apology tersely, and, as Mao watched, proceeded to trip over Nino and go down, limbs flailing, to land heavily on Aiba.

"This is my new favorite memory from college," Keiko said, awed. "No, wait, number one is still that soccer player with that mouth and legs for days, but this is definitely number two."

Nino, who'd been struggling to stand for several minutes, finally gave up and settled for squirming away from the pile of elbows and curse words that was Aiba and Jun. Then he squeezed his eyes shut and made a loud demand.

"Inoue Mao!"

Mao startled, giggling despite herself, but she saw the way Jun stilled on top of Aiba. She had a moment to rearrange herself before he spotted her, and she considered trying to look cool, but then she decided that was too much effort. Instead she continued leaning on Keiko and looking down at the three guys on the floor with a wide grin.

"Hold still, you imbecile," Jun snapped, managing to disengage himself from Aiba's lanky arms and legs without getting hit in the nose, though it was close.

He stood just as Nino repeated, "Inoue Mao, I know you are here! Kitagawa Keiko, show yourself! I have pictures of you with me, you know, you can't just deny our association. I have _proof_." His voice started as a shout and ended as a whine, but Mao only had eyes for the way Jun was scanning the room desperately. He'd started facing the wrong direction, but he wasn't giving up; he was looking at each face quickly but surely and searching for Mao.

He found her.

Mao straightened, letting go of Keiko, and smiled at Jun. He was stunned, motionless, eyes huge and dark and holding hers.

He'd really grown up very pretty. Mao told herself this was an objective observation.

"Who is _that_ ," Keiko said quietly. "He looks like he wants to carry you off to his room right now."

"That's Jun-kun," Mao said immediately, though her voice started off a bit squeaky. "And he is my childhood friend, not some hero from a romance novel."

Nino said weakly from his spot on the floor, "I'm going to vomit."

Mao tore her eyes away from Jun to look down with horror, but Keiko said calmly, "I've got him. You go catch up."

Within a minute, Keiko had gotten Nino standing and out the door, presumably toward a bathroom.

Jun hadn't moved.

Aiba, however, had started poking Jun's ankles, trying to apologize or make friends or ask for a hand up or all three at once.

When Mao brought a hand up to cover her mouth in a laugh, Jun stepped right over Aiba's head and strode to Mao's side.

"Mao-chan," he said, voice much deeper than she remembered. He didn't seem to know what to say next.

"Jun-kun," she returned, then pressed her lips together against a smile. It seemed like a momentous occasion to him, seeing her for the first time in eight years, but she'd already witnessed him making out--twice--not to mention wrestling dorkily on the floor with a guy like a drunk octopus.

Still, she was really happy to see him, and without thinking she took his hands and squeezed them. "Jun-kun, it's been a long time! How are you?"

His hands clenched around hers and seemed to get damp immediately. The rest of him, though, pulled it together with a snap.

"Mao-chan, it's certainly been a while," he said. "I've missed you--" He coughed. "I've missed your way of just touching people without permission."

Mao lifted her eyebrows, grinning. "I don't get any complaints, Matsumoto-san. Be grateful I didn't decide so many years apart deserved a hug."

His eyes went wide and he jerked his hands away from hers. "Um. Well, I think what I said could classify as a complaint--"

"Ah, don't be so stingy," she said, smacking him on the shoulder. "And after so long! Can I get you something to drink?"

He squared his shoulders, looking resolute. "Mao-chan. I'd really like to catch up with you, maybe somewhere quieter?"

"That sounds nice," she agreed, a little distracted by just how broad his shoulders had gotten.

He cleared his throat. "I can offer my room? No one's there right now, and it's right down the hall."

Mao gazed absently at his neck, his collar, the smudge of red--which was _lipstick_ , left over from his tryst before arriving here. She chuckled. He'd grown up quite promiscuous, it seemed, and she couldn't help being amused and a little flattered. "I'm sorry, I'm not interested in anything like that. But we should definitely talk sometime, Jun-kun! What's your number?"

"My number?" Jun repeated, brows drawing together. "You're not interested in what? Why can't we talk now?"

"Well, I should really go help Kei-chan," Mao said, drumming her fingers on the door to the hall behind her. "Nino is not the best drunk, that is for sure, and we'll be paying for the entertainment he provided us for most of the night."

"I'll help," Jun said stoically, but she just pulled out her phone and poked him in the belly with it, pleased when he yelped.

"Just your number will do."

He complied with a frown, and she waved her goodbye. She nearly knocked her head on the door frame again, but again escaped, and the door was just closing behind her as she heard Jun say something about how good it was to see her again.

*

Nino was like roadkill in the other bed the next morning as Mao and Keiko lay in Mao's bed and discussed the night before. They'd started off by remembering the three attractive boys flopping about on the floor ridiculously, but the ensuing laughing fit made both of their heads hurt even more.

"Your old friend might be the prettiest of the three," Keiko observed. Her eyes were closed against the unwelcome light of morning through the window, her hair a mess, but she still managed to look beautiful. "I mean, Nino's Nino... in objective moments, I can see he's good-looking, but who can really be objective about their friends?"

"He's a weasel," Mao said fondly. "But Aiba-san, he's awfully pretty..."

"He is. But your Matsumoto-san, he seems more grown-up, like he'd know just what to do with you if you wanted him to."

"He's not mine," Mao protested, then blinked back images of Jun doing with her just what she wanted him to. For such a vague sentence, Keiko had made it sound remarkably obscene. "Would you have gone back with him, then, if he'd propositioned you?"

She felt weird asking that, but decided she wasn't jealous, just hungover.

"Mm," Keiko said noncommittally, then, "But I don't think he was propositioning you anyway. This might be the time when your excuse of childhood friends is actually relevant: it sounds like he wanted to catch up."

Mao's head throbbed, making her voice come out pitiful. "But--"

"But you had sex on the brain," Keiko finished, sounding a little smug. "I'm so proud."

"You know I don't do casual," Mao argued weakly.

"I didn't say you should. But we'll be here several more months; is there a reason you can't date?"

"I'm not going to date my childhood friend..." Mao started, but it came out so unconvincing that Keiko didn't even validate it with a response.

Mao sighed, her head aching. She really had missed kissing a lot lately, and sometimes not being up for casual sex made life so frustrating.

"Anyway, there's no evidence he wants to date me. We've only seen each other again for two minutes!" Her voice raised on the last sentence, and Nino gave a rattling moan from across the room.

"Please," he gritted out, but couldn't get any further.

"He has a paper to write today," Keiko whispered. "Should I try to take him with me to the library?"

Mao raised a hand and clenched it into a fist with great resolve. "You did the heavy lifting last night. Leave today to me."

*

Despite her brave words, it took forty minutes of cajoling and bullying to get Nino out of bed. Keiko helped between getting ready, then took her leave with an apology, having a paper to write herself.

Mao dragged Nino down to the coffee shop in his clothes from the night before, figuring caffeine came before cleaning up. Luckily he hadn't puked on himself, though his breath smelled atrocious.

"I'm dying," he whined, arm around her shoulders as he stumbled down the hall beside her.

They barely made it to the door of the coffee shop with him clinging pathetically onto her. She was walking sideways to maneuver Nino through when she ran into something solid.

"Mao-chan," said a disgruntled voice, and she dropped Nino like a hot potato.

"Jun-kun," she said, smiling up at him and glad she'd brushed her teeth and changed out of pajamas, at least. Nino made a dire noise from where he was trying to claw himself upright in the doorway behind her, and she retrieved him absentmindedly, still processing her happiness at seeing Jun again. In the light of day it was feeling a lot less weird to be attracted to a childhood friend.

Jun looked down his nose at her burden, then sighed. "Let me help." He got a shoulder under Nino's other arm, and together they hurried Nino along and deposited him on a couch.

"Oh good," Nino said, fingers rubbing the upholstery as he curled into a ball. "This will match what's left in my stomach."

"Don't be disgusting," Mao said, grinning despite herself. She sat down by Nino's head, amused when it wormed its way onto her lap. Then she gave her full attention to their companion. "Jun-kun, good morning! Thank you for helping."

His grumpy face changed into a smile, almost shy, then back again when his eyes trailed down and rested on Nino's cheek pressed against Mao's thigh. Mao realized she'd been combing her fingers through Nino's hair unconsciously, and she nearly moved her hand away, but then she saw Jun's cheeks turn the most intriguing shade of pink.

She made her movements more caressing instead. Nino accepted this with a small noise of complaint that made her look down, but the complaint was louder when Mao paused for a moment, testing him. She gave him a flick on his ear before resuming her petting.

She was grinning when she looked back at Jun, happy in the thought that she had found some friends she wanted to hold onto.

Jun was staring at her hand in Nino's hair, looking murderous.

"What are your plans for today?" she asked sweetly.

"Coffee," he said curtly. "Then I have to go buy books."

"Oh, are you taking one of the extra culture classes, too?" Mao asked, perking up. Nino growled when her hand slowed temporarily. "I bought my books online or I'd go with you. Maybe we're in the same class!"

"Probably not," he said awkwardly and looked away. "Aiba-san said you're here studying English."

"You asked about me?" she teased, feeling warm. She wished he were close enough that she could touch him, just to let him know not to be too embarrassed.

He pretended not to have heard. "I'm taking the one on Broadway history."

Mao grinned. "Me too! The books are pretty expensive, want to share mine?"

She was feeling giddy, maybe a little dehydrated--she was still weirded out by finding _Matsumoto Jun_ attractive, and it didn't seem likely he'd want to date her for real instead of just having something casual as it seemed he preferred...

But he was so awkward, so flustered by her; he was so attractive and serious and it was still _Jun-kun_ , somehow, still the boy who'd given her her first piggyback ride when she hadn't wanted to get her new shoes muddy going across the soccer field.

If he'd already been able to carry her then, she imagined this Jun could lift her like it was nothing.

Now he frowned at her, only pleasing her further. "Then you'd have been the only one to pay, and I couldn't be sure to have the books whenever I needed them."

"Ah, you used to be so good at sharing, too. I don't think I bought a single juice for myself the whole time we were friends," Mao complained, smiling.

Nino muttered quietly, "God, flirt somewhere else." Mao slapped a hand over his mouth, hoping Jun hadn't heard, and waited until Nino's hands started flailing about before she let him breathe again.

"Go get coffee, then," Mao ordered. "Black for me."

"I don't have my wallet," Nino said shiftily, but she countered at once, "It's in your back pocket," and reached down to swat his hip for emphasis.

When Nino had finally lurched off toward the counter, Jun stood, making Mao worry he was leaving without giving her anything concrete to hope on. If he left right then, she'd have been the only one to flirt, and maybe he'd just been grouchy because he was hungover, not because of her touching Nino...

She stared up at him, hiding her worry, but all he did was come over and sit in the place Nino had vacated.

Mao bit her lip against a smile as Jun proceeded to put his bag down on the cushion next to him, thereby ensuring that Nino couldn't sit by him or by Mao and would have to find a seat elsewhere.

When he turned and caught her staring, he flushed, but said only, "That chair is like a rock. I'm considering making a complaint."

"Jun-kun," Mao said, scooting closer. "If you don't have to go buy books, since we can share and all, we could do something else instead."

He stared at her, silent for a long moment, then cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, I really need the books."

"You're such a downer," Mao complained, hiding her real disappointment. Even if he wasn't interested in her romantically, she'd assumed they could at least be friends again. Everything with Jun had always been so comfortable, after all.

He stood stiffly, looking affronted, and took several steps away. Then he turned back to look at her.

"It's not close, the bookstore I'm going to. But if you have anything you like to eat in that direction, I could treat you afterward."

Mao inhaled sharply, then let it go in a laugh. "Way to make even lunch awkward, Matsumoto-san. Let's go!"

Jun made a face and jerked a thumb in Nino's direction. "What about that guy?"

" _That guy_ is on his feet and acquiring coffee. I'd say my job here is done."

As Jun turned, Mao saw him smile, a real smile, though it wasn't without pettiness at Nino's fate. She liked it, liked going back to her feeling that they would be friends again. The idea that they might be more had her heart beating fast, but the warm certainty that they'd be friends was even nicer.

*

"So you've been hanging out for basically a week straight, but you haven't made a move, and he hasn't made a move. You're meeting at the party tonight, and, I'm sorry, what was your conclusion?"

Keiko wasn't teasing her, Mao knew, just confirming, but Mao still had to shoot a quelling look at Nino. He was sprawled on her bed like he owned the place and showing definite signs of mirth.

"That tonight is the night," Mao said from Keiko's bed, not caring that it sounded silly. She did make a threatening gesture at Nino just in case, though.

Keiko turned from their shared closet and gave her a sharp look. " _The_ night?"

Mao's eyes went wide. "I mean, the night where we either become more or stay friends forever, not anything dirty, Kei-chan!"

"Dirty?" Nino said, eyes flicking back and forth between them. "Why am I out of the loop?"

"Because you're a dude," Keiko said at once, just as Mao said, "Because you're friends with Aiba-chan, and Aiba-chan's friends with Jun-kun. Also because I don't know any of your sex things, so you don't get to know mine."

"I can tell you sex things," Nino said promptly. "What kind of sex things do you want to know?"

They ignored him, though Mao, at least, fully intended to follow up on that opening later.

Keiko said, "So tonight's the night... which way do you want it to go? Though of course, if more is on the table, it's only because you want it to be, so--"

"Yes, I want more," Mao said. Just saying it out loud made her feel fluttery. "But if he doesn't want more, than I really, really want to stay friends."

Keiko was still looking at her, and though her expression had softened, her eyes were still penetrating. "You're really becoming close, aren't you?"

Mao shook her head. "We were always close, and it feels like we're just going back to that. I used to tell him everything. But... but I feel like I haven't changed that much, and he's grown up." That was an understatement. There was that same sweetness hidden in Jun, and his determination had always been intense, but now there were times looking at him knocked the breath right out of her.

"You feel like that because you lived through each of your years of growing up and missed his. You've grown up just as much as he has, Mao-chan, and he's just as much his past self as you are."

Mao smiled at her. "What would I do without you, Kei-chan?"

"Hold up," Nino interjected. "I am also here, just brimming with good advice."

"Ooh, do tell," Mao said, turning to face him. She propped her chin on her fists and waited expectantly.

"Don't tell him you like him," Nino said, making Mao's face fall. Then he tilted his head and smiled at her, looking very sweet suddenly. "Because he'll probably perish from happiness on the spot."

She threw a pillow at him, making him break into a laugh. "No one needs your useless advice, Ninomiya!"

"I'm serious," he protested, but he was still laughing as she pelted him with one of Keiko's shirts from the laundry basket.

Unexpectedly, Keiko intervened. "Hear him out. You're right that he's a weasel but he's smarter than he looks."

"You called me a weasel? And what do you mean, smarter than he--oof." Fresh off a pair of jeans in the face, Nino nodded serenely. "I understand. You wish to skip straight to the stellar advice. Well, the thing is, hasn't he been wanting to confess to you forever? Give him the right signals and let him get unblocked, then go forth and have lots of dirty nights! Have I mentioned that I'm curious about--"

"He's not been waiting to confess to me forever!" Mao said loudly and crossed her arms over her chest.

The room was silent. She turned and found Keiko looking at her with sympathy.

Mao stuck her jaw out stubbornly. "If anyone would know that, I would."

Keiko held up a finger. "Number one, the juice."

Nino nodded and chimed in, "Number two, the piggyback ride."

"Number three, the chocolate," Keiko finished. "And those are only the things you've told us about, Mao-chan. He was desperately into you, all right? Probably pined for you for years."

Mao protested, "He only gave me the juice because he didn't like that kind!"

"And what, he got the wrong kind every single day for months? And it just happened to be the kind you liked?" Keiko said, eyebrows raised.

Nino lay back on the bed and spoke to the ceiling. "And piggyback rides are the height of romance, haven't you watched television ever?"

"You gave Kei-chan a piggyback ride last week!" Mao said, unconvinced even though she had a sinking feeling in her belly. "I even gave her one after that when you fell over."

"I knelt gracefully--that's not the point. The point is we're friends, so it's different, but Matsumoto-san..."

"We were friends, too, so there's no difference."

Keiko leaned back against the closet and folded her arms over her chest just like Mao. "And what about the chocolate?"

"Yeah!" Nino propped himself up on his hand as he turned onto his side. He gave a hearty thumbs up, then said less heartily, "Though could you please explain, because I haven't actually heard about the chocolate. Did he paint a mural of your face in shades of milk and dark?"

"It was friendship," Mao said, frowning. "I'd given him friendship chocolates on Valentine's Day, and on White Day, he gave chocolate back."

"He _made_ her chocolate," Keiko corrected. "And he gave it to her on one knee."

Nino goggled at her.

Keiko nodded. "I'm not making that up."

"But he did that so I'd feel better about Shun-kun liking Yu-chan!" Despite her words, Mao was reeling.

She was remembering.

Jun coming to her locker with juice, saying he kept pushing the wrong button because they weren't marked well on the machine, that he was going to write a letter of complaint about it. Every day he'd brought her her favorite juice.

Jun seeing her face when she'd stepped to the edge of the soccer field and taken in all the mud. The way he'd crouched down... the way he hadn't been able to look her in the eyes afterward, his cheeks flushed from more than the exertion of carrying her.

Jun down on one knee, holding up a box wrapped in purple with a pink bow. The way the chocolates had tasted as they melted on her tongue. How upset he'd been when she'd given one to Becky, and how happy he'd been when she put the bow in her hair the next day.

Keiko came over and sat by her on the bed. "I figured if you didn't know by now, it's because you didn't want to know."

"Oh my god."

Nino put in, "Are we going to drink before this party or what? I heard Aiba-chan talking to his roommate about his scheme for tonight, and I'm definitely going to need some alcohol to stay sane."

"Wait, what am I going to do?" Mao asked softly, staring blankly at Nino.

Keiko put an arm around her shoulders. "Isn't the plan the same?"

"There was a plan?" Nino asked. "Why do I miss everything?"

"Yes, there's a plan," Mao said automatically. Her mind was still whirling, but her muddled thoughts were beginning to coalesce into something she could understand emotionally, if not yet rationally.

Keiko squeezed her comfortingly, and from the other bed, Nino gave her a spirited guts pose.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Mao smiled at her friends. She didn't know if Jun liked her, or still liked her, and she didn't know if he wanted more than casual even if he was attracted to her, but she did know she'd be friends with Jun even if nothing else worked out.

"Tell me the plan," Nino demanded, patience exhausted. "I already told my mom that we're friends, don't make me take it back."

"To do what feels right," Mao said, making it a vow. Then she pointed at the bottles on top of her dresser. "First up: shots!"

*

In what was becoming a routine, Mao, Keiko, and Nino made their way into the common room on Aiba's floor. He was their host as usual, or one of them, though Nino's offhand comment earlier was the only indication that Aiba's roommate was supposedly his co-host.

"Welcome, welcome!" Aiba said, beaming at them. "Please get a drink, then go to the bathroom if you have to because the main event starts in a couple minutes!"

Mao, who'd been scanning the room for Jun, turned back to look at Aiba suspiciously. "Nino wouldn't say what we were doing tonight. Aren't there a lot fewer people here than usual?"

"There's a reason for that," Aiba whispered dramatically. "Go! Drinks!"

Shrugging, Keiko led Mao away to comply with their host.

Then there were fingers around Mao's wrist.

"Mao-chan."

She was still a moment, feeling Keiko move away tactfully. She was almost afraid to look at him now that she knew he'd liked her so much. Jun's fingers were just dropping away when Mao turned to see him and felt her worries dissolve.

"Jun-kun," she said warmly, and slid her hand down to take his. "Do you know what's going on? Aiba-chan's being mysterious."

Jun rolled his eyes, though he looked flushed and happy. She wondered if he was happy because she was holding his hand. "He wouldn't tell me, just Nino. He said I was a spoilsport."

Mao nodded solemnly. "You do have far too much dignity for someone our age... hey!" She cut off, laughing, as he tickled her, then counterattacked with all her might. It ended with him on the floor, winded, and her victorious above him.

"You forget," she said smugly. "I know your weak point."

"Mao-chan..." he said slowly, standing up to lean closer to her. She remembered back when they'd been on the same eye-level, but now she had to look up. "There's another one you should know about, or maybe you already do."

"Places, everyone!" Aiba yelled. He was practically skipping around the room and waving everyone to a spot on the floor.

Belatedly, Mao noticed that all the tables and chairs had been pushed to the sides of the common room. She took her place when Aiba shooed her into it, pleased when she ended up sitting beside Keiko. Somehow Aiba maneuvered Jun into a spot across the circle, but Mao was willing to wait for him. She had a growing feeling that he'd been waiting for her for much longer.

"All right," Aiba said and clapped his hands twice. He jogged over and locked the door before coming to sit down on Mao's other side. "Last week I had the honor of spending time with an American girl who told me about a very special American tradition."

He held up an empty wine bottle just as someone said, "But Aiba-chan, you don't understand English."

"Oh Sho-chan," Aiba said, acting very pitying suddenly. "We didn't have to use words."

Sho, who was really quite handsome (maybe Aiba was a magnet for people as pretty as he was?), turned scarlet. Beside Mao, Keiko snickered softly.

"So we all sit in a circle," Aiba said excitedly. "Done! Then the bottle goes in the middle, and someone spins it. And the person it lands on gets a kiss!"

Mao stilled, surprised, then felt Keiko's hand on her arm. "Do you want to leave?" Keiko asked, and Mao shook her head.

"A little kissing won't hurt me," she said. "In fact, I think I have an idea."

Aiba was still chattering on about hugs and French kisses and something about closet and heaven, but Mao interrupted him with her hand raised.

"I'll go first, Aiba-san," she said bravely, smiling when everyone oohed. She met Jun's eyes across the circle. He wasn't smiling. He looked utterly intent on her, and underneath he looked flustered.

Maybe it was the three vodka shots she'd done with Nino and Keiko, or maybe it was the lingering memory of Jun on his knees holding handmade chocolate up to her, but Mao was completely sure the bottle was going to land on Jun. Tonight was the night, after all.

Aiba handed her the bottle, bouncing a bit with excitement, and Mao carried it to the middle of the circle. She crouched down and took a deep breath, pointed the bottle at her empty spot so as not to jinx herself, and spun it.

The green gleam of the bottle whirled around on the carpet, then slowed, slowed... and pointed directly to Aiba's handsome friend, Sho.

Distantly, Mao heard Nino laugh, but she was too busy staring at the treacherous bottle.

"Mao-chan, if you don't do it fast, you have to use tongue," Keiko hissed, and Mao snapped back to herself.

She went the direction the bottle was pointing and quickly, with no fuss, dropped a kiss on Sho's full lips. He sat frozen, though his mouth was pliant under hers.

When she was back in her spot, Keiko leaned in to whisper in her ear, "How was he?"

Still reeling, but pleased with herself despite the unexpected outcome, Mao gave a thumbs-up, grinning at her friend. "Recommended!"

Keiko settled back with a smile that promised a very interesting night for Sho.

Mao looked across the circle at Jun. He looked about to explode. She'd gone on her impulse to go first thinking she'd get him, but now she thought this was even better. If Jun didn't confess before the night was out, she'd eat Aiba's cropped pants.

Sho got Ema, and Ema got Nino, and things proceeded smoothly until Nino spun and got Aiba.

"Better do it fast," Mao laughed. Nino was glaring at the bottle, not moving a muscle.

"The longer you wait, the more tongue I'm going to use," Aiba singsonged, and Nino bolted across the circle and laid his mouth on Aiba's for a split second.

It was over so fast that Mao barely saw it, which was too bad, but then Aiba wrapped his arms around Nino's shoulders and pulled him into a bear-hug. "Now we're really friends, Nino-chan!"

Nino was slapping at Aiba's shoulders and Sho was laughing, but Mao saw Jun was still looking at her. They couldn't be paired up unless one of them got picked again. She was going to kiss him that night regardless, but it was fun to have this part of it be up to chance. She smiled at him, though he didn't smile back.

When Aiba finally freed Nino and spun for himself, he got his roommate, the mysterious Ohno. Mao didn't know much about the small, tanned guy who lurked in the corners of their parties and laughed at jokes with the wrong timing. He looked nice right now, though, with his eyes all crinkled at the corners as he grinned at Aiba sweetly.

Then he stood up, stretched luxuriously under the group's uncomprehending eyes, and darted across the room.

Aiba, catching on too late, shouted, "Oi, Oh-chan!" and chased after him, but this boy was quick, it seemed, and evaded him as the ones still in the circle counted aloud. Not having heard the end of the explanation, Mao didn't know what they were counting to, but she counted along with gusto anyway.

"Ten!" they all shouted, and then there was expectant silence. Mao barely muffled her yell of eleven, then twisted to get a better view of the action.

Keiko hooked their arms together as they watched Aiba step up to Ohno, who'd stopped coyly near the table with people's jackets. When he reached his roommate, Aiba kept going, bending him back over the table, and gave him a kiss with such flourish--and tongue--that Mao squawked involuntarily along with the delighted shrieks of the rest of the group.

Ohno was batting at Aiba's back before they were done, but when he was released, he walked back over to his spot in the circle like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

He crawled to the middle and spun, getting Keiko, who received his shy kiss before spinning to get Jun. She slid her eyes to Mao, asking, and Mao nodded. After tonight, if she had her way, Jun wouldn't be kissing anyone but her, but for now it was all enormous fun.

After his brief kiss with Keiko, Jun moved to the middle and put his hand on the bottle. He didn't spin it. He seemed to be struggling with something, and then he looked up and met Mao's eyes.

He looked torn and unhappy, and Mao stood up at once. "I'll be back," she said to Aiba, though her eyes stayed on Jun. He nodded once before spinning the bottle.

Mao was in the hallway before it stopped and the cheers she heard were muffled. She walked down to what she thought of as the kissing spot, though all the kissing she'd seen had actually happened down the hall in front of Jun's room.

When she got to the end and turned, Jun was walking toward her. She waited, smiling at him, and his grumpy expression cleared away.

"Thank you, Mao-chan," he said, stopping a few feet away. "In front of all those people, for our first kiss..."

Mao sighed. "But how will we know when to kiss now, without the bottle?"

Jun took a step closer. "You can kiss me whenever you want."

She tilted her head, feeling entirely happy. "Then I will."

She put her hands on his shoulders and went up on tiptoe to brush her mouth against his. He shivered, arms coming around her waist, and she pulled him down further so she could press their lips together firmly for a spellbound moment.

Then she stepped back out of reach, breathless and delighted. For a second, he only stared, then his hand came up and he pressed fingers against his mouth. He looked stunned.

"Mao-chan," he breathed, swaying toward her. She laid a hand on his chest.

"You can be in charge of our second kiss, then? My expectations are pretty high, I'll warn you--" And then he was kissing her, mouth moving against hers, his arms wrapped so tightly around her that when he straightened, he was picking her up and holding her there against him, their lips still touching, tasting, finding each other.

Every thought flew out of Mao's head, leaving only Jun. She kissed him with all the pent-up feelings from their flirtations of the past week, with all of her confusion over their past friendship turned into affection, attraction... lust.

When she started getting lightheaded, she moved her mouth away, smiling despite herself. She wanted to slow down, but not stop, and there was nothing she wanted to do with Jun that she didn't think, hope, that they'd do eventually.

She kept her face pressed against his neck for a moment, then turned it to rest on his shoulder and opened her eyes.

With a start, she realized they were standing in front of his door, right where she'd seen him kissing those other girls. Had she really been so consumed that she hadn't felt him carrying her?

"Wait," she said, suddenly flustered. "I'm not ready for that."

He put her down, but when she tried to step back, embarrassed, he took her hands and looked into her eyes. "Whatever it is you're not ready for, that's fine. I just didn't want to kiss you in the hallway where anyone could interrupt."

She blushed, wobbly and pleased. He was always attentive, her Jun.

"Then..." she started, squeezing his hands. "Then we could kiss some more, in your room. Bottle unnecessary."

He laughed, his anxiety over her stepping away dissipating. "That bottle has scarred me for life, I'll have you know. I had to kiss _Sho-kun_ \--" He broke off suddenly to stare at something behind her.

Mao turned, worried, only to find that Jun's doorknob had a sock on it. She looked back to see Jun with a strange, conflicted expression on his face.

"Jun-kun, what is it?"

"Apparently, Sho-kun found someone else after me," Jun said, then snorted. "This is the first time, so I guess I'm more pleased for him than anything else, but where am I supposed to sleep?"

Just then, Mao's phone chirped, and she opened the message to find it was from Keiko.

Laughing, she said to Jun, "It looks like I have an extra bed you could use, Jun-kun. I think our roommates are in there together."

"What, Kitagawa-san? She must have worked fast if we didn't even see them, and Sho-kun's pretty shy with girls..."

"As expected of Kei-chan," Mao said fondly. "Shall we go, then?"

"To your room?" Jun said slowly, testing out the syllables.

Mao wanted to clarify again, wanted to ask him about his feelings for her, wanted to warn him that she didn't do casual, that she wasn't casual about him, but it didn't feel right. When it came down to it, she didn't think they needed that many words between them. Instead, she just nodded and took his hand. He slid his fingers through hers, twining them naturally, and her heart skipped a beat as they walked down the hall together.

*

"Jun-kun, are you seriously going to sleep on the floor?" Mao asked, not for the first time. All the lights were off except her nightlight and the room felt hushed and expectant.

"I told you, I'm not sleeping in your friend's bed without her permission," Jun said stubbornly.

"Then I'll sleep in Kei-chan's bed, and you can sleep in mine! With my permission."

He didn't reply. She could hear him shifting around on the floor and trying to get comfortable. It was probably difficult with his tight jeans and button-down shirt, not to mention his unyielding personality.

"You know," she said suddenly. "There's room up here for you even if I stay."

The room was very quiet. Mao was holding her breath, and it sounded like Jun might have been as well.

She tried again, "We're not kids anymore, right? Surely we can sleep in the same bed and keep our hands to ourselves."

"I don't know, Mao-chan," Jun said at last. His voice was low and sent shivers down her spine.

"Just get up here," she demanded. "I'd like to get some sleep tonight, you know."

She was already under the covers, and though she held them back for him to get in with her, he carefully smoothed them down and lay down on top of them.

"Would you rather be on the other side?" he asked politely, as if they weren't so close together that she could feel his body heat.

"No, thank you," she said, just as polite. Then she snickered. "Matsumoto Jun-kun's in my bed! I'm going to have to send out a mass email to everyone I went to middle school with."

He laughed and turned on his side to face her. She scooted her pillow over so that they could share, pleased when he didn't decline.

"Do you talk to any of them anymore?" he asked. "I've lost touch with almost everyone since college, at least until I go home for the summer."

"I meant to stay in touch with all of you," she said, biting her lip. "But the only person I talk to anymore is Yu-chan, and we weren't even really friends back then; that only happened after I left. Ah, I do still hear from Shun-kun, maybe once a year. His messages never--"

"--make any sense," Jun finished with her, then laughed. "Shun's brain is something I'll never figure out, but I'm not sure I want to."

"You guys were my closest friends, you know," Mao said quietly. "Even though we were only friends for two years, you four are the ones I think of when I think of my childhood friends. I cried so much when I had to leave."

Jun inched a hand forward to rest on her belly before yanking it back. "One year and eight months."

"Excuse me?" she asked. She wormed a hand out from under the covers so that she could grab his the next time he got brave.

"We were friends for a year and eight months. I remember."

"You're irritating." She reached across and found his hand. "And you still haven't kissed me goodnight."

"So demanding." His voice was hoarse and very close. She could barely make out his face in the dim light, but she could see him getting closer, and she shut her eyes just as their mouths met.

They held hands and kissed, sometimes with chaste brushes of lips, sometimes deeply. Mao felt dizzy and pleased, feverish with the touch of his mouth, and everything else fell away.

At last she pulled back an inch or two, sleepy and as satisfied as she wanted to be that night. He tilted his head on the pillow, reaching up to press a kiss on her forehead, and she closed her eyes into it with a smile.

*

It was hard getting out of bed in the morning, even harder than usual when she had her head tucked against Jun's shoulder and one of his hands curled around her hip. Still, as soon as she was conscious to do so, she made herself get up.

In those last moments before falling asleep the night before, after Jun had settled back with their hands still entwined, Mao'd had an idea.

She left a note in case Jun woke up, then trudged downstairs in her pajamas.

When she got back, the note was still on the pillow next to Jun's face, which was soft in restful sleep. She couldn't resist smoothing down the hair on his forehead, but then she settled over on Keiko's bed to get some reading done. She had a feeling her free time would be very full between her friends and Jun and wanted to snatch the homework opportunity while she could.

It was nearly an hour later when Jun stirred. "G'morning," he said groggily. He turned to face her, still lying down, and her heart twinged at the pillow crease on his cheek.

"Good morning," she said cheerily, not at all displeased to have an excuse to stop cramming English compound nouns into her brain. She got up and came over to stand by her bed. "I got you a toothbrush, and here, you can use my toothpaste."

When he just grumbled and turned his face back to the pillow, she poked him sharply in the side.

"I'm up, I'm up," he said bitterly, curling away from her unerring finger.

"Go on then," she said. "I can smell your breath from here."

He stared at her with narrowed eyes, clearly not believing her.

She stared back, making her face perfectly serious.

He went to brush his teeth. While he was gone, Mao retrieved the items she'd hidden in the closet and put them on one of her enormous textbooks as if it were a serving tray.

Jun came back looking slightly more lucid, though he didn't notice the makeshift tray on the bed where he'd been sleeping. That might have been because Mao could resist his sleepy face no longer and went right in for a hug.

As soon as she felt him start relaxing into her like he could fall asleep standing in her arms, she pulled away reluctantly and pushed him down to sit on Keiko's bed instead. Without all his senses about him, it didn't occur to him to protest, or maybe he thought just sitting on someone's bed without permission was within bounds.

She brought over the textbook and set it carefully on his lap. She didn't let it go until his hands settled around the sides, holding it in place. It seemed more an instinctive reaction than because he understood anything that was going on.

"Jun-kun," she said and tried not to sound too gleeful. "I was buying myself juice and it seems the worker misunderstood me. I hardly want it to go to waste, so if you want it, I guess that's all right."

He stared down into the little plastic cup of juice from the coffee shop downstairs. "Um. I just brushed my teeth."

Mao ignored this. Instead she picked up the item next to the juice, then backed up with great ceremony to drop down onto one knee.

She held up the chocolate bar to him. "Happy Valentine's Day! I couldn't make you chocolate since we don't actually have a kitchen here, but look, I wrapped a bow around it."

The bow was purple and had been donated from Keiko's drawer of things guys gave her in hopes she'd see them again. Mao knew it would never be missed, given that nearly everything in the drawer ended up trashed or donated to lost and found eventually.

Jun didn't take the chocolate, but she didn't move, just knelt there with her arms outstretched, presenting him with her gift.

Finally he said, "It's October." Only then did he take the chocolate from her hands and examine it like maybe an explanation was written on the wrapper.

Now came the hard part, though it was also the part Mao was looking forward to most.

Without standing, she turned around and offered her back to Jun.

"I've noticed our floor is very dirty. May I offer you a lift back to your room?"

She looked over her shoulder to find that Jun had been lifting the juice to his lips, toothpaste be damned, but was now very still and staring at her. His eyes slid to the juice, then the chocolate, lingering on the bow, then finally back to her crouched there with her arms sticking back a bit as if to coax his legs around her waist.

His voice was cold when he said, "You're making fun of me."

Mao stiffened. "No, I was trying to show you... Jun-kun, I might have been teasing you a little, but only because--"

"Just stop. I know I was ridiculous back then." Jun's voice was angry, but it sounded like he was angry with himself. He stood up and made a restless motion like he was going to leave.

She got up and turned to face him, not willing to let him run away from her. "You weren't ridiculous. You were one of my best friends. And... all these things, I wanted to show you that I understand now."

His bitter expression changed, though he still looked unhappy. She saw vulnerability, anxiety, an underlying hope. She was glad that even with his hurt feelings, underneath those was still a trust in her.

His next words were cautious. "Understand what?"

She tilted her head expectantly. "Shouldn't you say it first, since you've been waiting so long?"

He looking uncomprehending for a moment, then went red. "It seems like you already know." He looked away, and she could see that his shyness was mixed with a growing confidence that she reciprocated his feelings. She liked that, liked that she could see his old self and new self all at once.

"I'll say it first, then," she declared, but he immediately cut her off.

"I like you!"

It was nearly a shout, and Jun's cheeks didn't lose their flush of emotions. His face was very serious now as he said again, "Mao-chan, I like you. I've always liked you, since the first time we met."

Mao smiled and squeezed herself tight with a warm surge of feelings. "Thank you, Jun."

He looked at her, his self-consciousness making his cheeks pink, his confidence making his eyes sparkle knowingly. "Don't you have something to say to me?"

She tapped a finger on her lips consideringly. Then she said, "Ah! Let's go ice skating."

Tsking reprovingly, he stepped nearer. "Let's. But that's not it."

She wrinkled her brow. "Aiba-chan's having another party tonight?"

"I'd be happy to accompany you. Providing you say what you were going to say before."

He was very close now, so close she could rest her hands on his waist without reaching. She smiled up at him. "He said this time we're playing that game where you kiss in a closet."

"You can kiss me anywhere," Jun said, voice suggestive, and Mao blushed all the way to her ears.

"I like you," she stammered at last, wishing she'd said it before he got her all flustered.

He lifted his hands to cradle her jaw gently and kissed her once, twice on the lips. "Thank you, Mao," he said quietly.

She leaned her head back and sighed happily into his mouth as they kissed again. Then she pulled him in close and wrapped her arms around him, feeling entirely safe as he held her warmly in return.

Jun nuzzled her hair. "I'll take my piggyback ride now."

Mao didn't give him the satisfaction of surprise. "All right, then, Jun-kun. Where to?"

*

"And then we ran into the wall again, and that's why I have this bruise," Mao finished, pointing to her forehead. "Your turn!"

Keiko brushed her fingers over Mao's bruise, then kissed it lightly. "I have a new favorite memory in college."

"No!" Mao gasped. "Sho-san?"

A shout came from the doorway. "Everyone freeze!"

Mao and Keiko turned in union, both wearing unimpressed expressions. Keiko said, "If you insist on being late, you're going to miss out on all the good gossip, Nino."

Nino put his hands on his hips. "You should have waited. Could you sum her up before you go on?"

Mao spluttered, feeling her story with Jun deserved more than that, but Keiko said coolly, "They kissed, they confessed, they're dating now."

"Oooooh," Nino said happily, coming in to sit on the floor by Mao's bed. He leaned against her knees companionably. "And you, Kitayan?"

"Sho-kun's very repressed," she said slowly, then grinned smugly. "For the first ten minutes."

"And then?" Mao asked, eyes wide.

Keiko tapped a finger on her lips, then dragged it down, down, until it was resting on a deep pink bite mark on her neck. She didn't bother describing more in words, just moved on to say, "I agreed to meet him at Aiba-chan's party tonight."

"Whoa," Mao and Nino chorused. Keiko had never followed up on any encounter as far as they knew, though she was fairly reticent about her romantic life.

"What about you, Nino?" Keiko asked.

"My plan backfired," he groaned at once. "My mom said my picture didn't count as my new friend of the week. She checked the timestamp! Why does she even know how to do that?"

"Why didn't you just take a picture with someone last night?" Mao laughed. "You were out anyway!"

"Wait," Keiko said, narrowing her eyes at Nino. "Why _did_ you go out last night? You took all those pictures last week, and you didn't know then that your mother was smarter than you are."

"Hey," Nino said, affronted, then shrugged in assent. For as much as he complained about his mother's requirements for him studying abroad, they both knew he adored her. Then his expression went squirrelly. "I didn't want to have to hear Aiba-chan's complaints if I didn't show up."

Neither of them said anything, just waited with unconvinced looks.

Nino fidgeted. Mao poked him in the neck.

"Fine," he said, hiding his face in both hands. "Maybe it's slightly less terrible having to leave my room if I'm with you guys. Are you happy?"

"Yes," Mao said promptly, sliding down to wrap an arm around his shoulders.

"Only slightly," he qualified, but he dropped his hands and leaned into her embrace as Keiko came to sit on his other side.

"Only slightly," Keiko agreed, putting her arm around his waist. "Still, I'm glad. Tonight will be way more fun with you there."

"That's right!" Mao said. "I'll go with Jun-kun, and it sounds like Keiko's got someone lined up, too, but what about you? Who's going to spend seven minutes in heaven with Ninomiya Kazunari tonight?"

"Oh no," Nino moaned. "I should have anticipated friendship would betray me."

*

"Where do you want my hands?" Jun asked quietly. He was very close to her in the dark closet, and even though Mao could smell Aiba's baseball mitt and Ohno's fishing gear, all she could think about was Jun.

"Waist and up is good," she said cheerfully, pulling him in by his hands until his chin bumped her forehead. "What about you?"

"Um. Hold on, I have just been given so much to touch and only seven minutes to do it. I think something just broke in my head."

She laughed. "Better get going. Aiba-chan'll be knocking on that door before you know it."

"You can touch whatever you want," he said swiftly, and then he was kissing her, pressing her back against the row of Aiba's shirts and pants. After a moment, a moment when his hands quickly proved very talented, Mao nervously slid her own hands down and rested them lightly on the seat of his jeans.

"Oh my god," he groaned, and he bent to press fervent kisses to her neck.

"I heard you might be exiled again tonight," Mao gasped, her hands squeezing automatically. It was so good to have someone to do this with, and even better that her someone was _Jun._

Jun didn't respond, too busy using his tongue and teeth and hands to drive her mindless.

"Um, so you should come back with me," she got out, gratified when he paused to catch his breath at the suggestion of sharing a bed again.

"Nope," he said against her neck, hands very busy over her shirt. "Let's never leave this closet."

Someone knocked on the door. "Your seven minutes are up, lovebirds!" Aiba called cheerfully.

"I'll kill him," Jun said conversationally.

Mao slid her hands up slowly, enjoying the feel of him. "Let's go, Jun."

He shook his head and kissed her neck, though his hands retreated respectfully.

"I want to see who gets picked with Nino," she said, laughing breathlessly. "Then we can go. There's a closet in my room, too, and _two_ beds."

Jun sighed, then kissed her one more time. He lingered over it even as Aiba banged on the door again. Then he stepped back, and she could just feel him smiling at her. "Let's go figure skating tomorrow."

She nudged his shoulder teasingly as she moved around him to the door. "That sounds like a perfect first date."

She stepped out of the closet and held the door open for Jun, but it took him several moments to recover himself from how she'd used the word _date_. Everyone clapped and Mao curtsied prettily. Then Jun was there beside her, holding her hand, and she had a feeling he'd be holding on as long as she'd let him.

She planned to hold on back for a good long time.


End file.
